November 15, 2026
Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
LeBron James took a hard foul from former Sixers wing Kelly Oubre Jr. on Sunday.
PHILADELPHIA – Kelly Oubre Jr. has guarded a lot of star wings at Xfinity Mobile Arena over the last three years. On Sunday afternoon, however, he did it as a visitor.
Instead of taking the toughest defensive assignments on behalf of the Sixers, Oubre did so against the Sixers as an Indiana Pacer. He was matched up with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown – two players he took many cracks at during his three seasons in Philadelphia – and tried to help an undermanned Pacers team overcome a talent deficit against the Joel Embiid-less Sixers.
With his team on the seesaw after halftime, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse finally took the plunge and brought two-way center Tacko Fall into the game for his first rotation minutes of the season. Fall's successful stint sparked his team and crowd, and with a strong third-quarter push, the Sixers pulled away for good with a 131-124 win.
After spoiling Oubre's return, the Sixers are 11-3. Here's how they earned the home victory, along with Oubre's thoughts on his Sixers tenure and first trip back to Philadelphia:
Nurse said before the game that his hesitance to play Fall stems from his lack of a "body of work."
"How can I put this? I just haven't seen much," Nurse said. "...I just need to see him out there, in some form. I think it's unfortunate that he missed all of training camp, and he has no preseason games, not a G League game. There's just not much of a body of work. So if I do throw him out there – listen, I think he can help us, but it's a little bit of the unknown. Sometimes I might just have to take that leap, or we might as a staff, I guess."
Nurse took the leap. Early in the third quarter, Fall checked into the game. He immediately grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw, which led to two free throws for James.
TACKO FALL O BOARD THEN FINDS BRON OMG pic.twitter.com/3IyA4jzr2T
— ˑ (@FunKneeBone) November 15, 2026
Thanks to Fall's screening and defensive rebounding, James single-handedly went on an 8-2 run that sparked a raucous crowd desperate to cheer for anything Fall could get involved in.
Lebron tacko work pic.twitter.com/YtIcJqaTyE
— ˑ (@FunKneeBone) November 15, 2026
The Sixers exclusively played zone defense with Fall on the floor; even with what he describes as improved mobility, the Sixers do not want the 30-year-old chasing anybody around on the perimeter. Fall wanted a chance to play genuine minutes, and he got it.
As Fall tired – his fatigue was clear by the end of his stint – James had heated up. Brown, whose 20 first-half points led the way early, sat on the bench in foul trouble as James and Tyrese Maxey took the baton. Maxey engaged in a long-distance heater and Dean Wade did a little bit of everything, playing one of his best all-around games as a Sixer to continue a strong stretch of play. Jabari Walker, starting at center in place of Embiid, buried three triples; the work he has put into revamping his shot paid off in a major way.
How did it feel for Oubre to return to the arena he called home for three years – and do so by entering a different locker room?
"Ah, just nostalgic," Oubre said before the game. "My first, what, eight years, coming in this visitors' locker room. It's different because I was on the other side for a minute. So, yeah, it's cleaner. I think they renovated it, but it's a little different, of course. Just trying to take this day moment by moment because I want to cherish these moments."
Oubre's start with the Pacers was rough, but lately the veteran swingman has thrived for a team decimated by injuries.
"Love him," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "Such an upbeat guy and he's such a unique person. Love the wardrobe. He’s just a very authentically one-of-a-kind type guy. He has great versatility as a basketball player. And he's demonstrated, particularly in recent games, a level of tenacity that we need. And he's one of the reasons we've defended better lately. And offensively, he's the kind of guy – and all of you are aware of this because you covered him – you don't have to run plays for him. He's going to find a way to score off of cuts, crashes, transition, finding open areas. And so guys like him are very valuable."
As he departed one team aiming to contend in the Eastern Conference, Oubre joined another. Why Indiana?
"It was the pace, the culture, the attitude that this team has," Oubre said. "It's a fast-paced style of basketball. It's a bunch of guys who work collectively as a unit, and kind of figure it out from there. I thought that would be a great opportunity for me to kind of just come and free flow play, and then not have to think, which was I was wrong. Been thinking a lot, but I'm starting to figure it out and starting to get my rhythm here, but at the end of the day, man, it's a great culture. Coach Carlisle is a legend, Hall of Fame coach, and they wanted me. So, I love people who want me."
The Sixers, as Oubre understood things in the summer, were no longer that:
Asked Kelly Oubre Jr. if he expected to return to the Sixers in free agency last summer and he said he heard “whispers” that new POBO Mike Gansey wanted to bring “some of his Cleveland guys” to Philadelphia (the Sixers later signed Dean Wade).
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) November 15, 2026
Full comment: pic.twitter.com/vKkTMIC7xt
Oubre still called the Sixers' offseason "must-see TV."
"As a basketball fan, it was pretty cool to see where I was to kind of reinvent, and kind of get new life and new energy," Oubre said. "So, I was happy with that. Would I have loved to be a part of it? Of course. But at the end of the day, I'm a grown man, and I've got to keep moving and figure it out for myself. But it was entertaining. You guys get to see and cover these guys. I'm sure it's more entertaining for you than me. But yeah, I mean, just happy for all the people who've sacrificed over these years and [figured] it out."
Oubre will always remember his three years with the Sixers, he said, for helping him find himself as a player.
"I mean, I was literally about to be done with basketball," Oubre said. "Coach Nurse called me multiple times and said, ‘I want you to play for me.’ And I was like, ‘You know what? This guy really seems to care. He really wants me.’ So, absolutely, thank you for just pulling me out of that pit and that hole that I was in four years ago, and I've got some new life in my basketball career. So, I'm always thankful for that, and I love Nurse for that, and just appreciative for my time here and just the battle wounds and scars that I've been able to build up. It made me a better man."
Up next: The Sixers' back-to-back will wrap up on Monday night when they take on the Nets in Brooklyn.
